Guardian Angel by Adrian Howell Read Free Book Online Page A

he was a good friend to everyone in the old Refugee House.
    James asked Scott, “How is everyone at Wood-claw?”
    Scott was about to answer, but suddenly the Knight stepped forward and cut across him, saying brusquely, “Let’s save the chitchat for later. I don’t want to stick around here long.”
    “Yeah,” said Scott, “you’re right, Hammer. Let’s bring them in.”
    But the Knight called Hammer said warningly, “Scott…”
    Scott turned to him and said in an exasperated tone, “Oh, come on! They’re all here. There’s no danger. Let’s just bring them in.”
    Hammer shook his head. “Mrs. Harding’s orders.”
    “What’s going on?” I asked.
    Scott looked at us apologetically. “We can only take two of you right now. Once Mrs. Harding is sure that this isn’t some kind of trap, we’ll come back for the rest. And whoever we take will have to be blindfolded on the way in. You know how Mrs. Harding is.”
    “Yeah,” I sighed. “So, who gets to go?”
    “You choose,” said Scott.
    As our leader, Terry was the obvious first pick. As to the second, I didn’t want to leave Alia behind, she didn’t want to go without me, and the former Wolf wasn’t Mrs. Harding’s favorite. Thus we decided that James would accompany Terry.
    “Alright, let’s go,” Hammer said impatiently.
    “Wait,” Rachael said to him, “I need to put hiding bubbles over these rooms so that Adrian and Alia can stay here till we return.”
    “Make it quick,” ordered Hammer.
    “Sure thing,” replied Rachael, entirely unperturbed by Hammer’s blunt manner.
    “Actually, Rachael,” said Ed Regis, “if you can, would you mind giving them individual protection so that they can move about?”
    “Okay,” said Rachael, shrugging.
    Rachael started with Alia. Kneeling, she put her palms on Alia’s chest and back, working her hiding protection into my sister’s body so that her healing and telepathy would remain undetectable wherever she went.
    Watching, I wondered why Ed Regis had asked Rachael to give Alia and me individual hiding protection. Was it just a precaution, or was he already planning to move us to a different location?
    Rachael took about five minutes for my sister, and Hammer looked on with an impatient scowl.
    Releasing Alia, Rachael came over to me next. “Excuse me,” she said, gently placing her hands on me. This was simply how psionic hiders created personal hiding bubbles, but it felt a little awkward in Scott’s presence.
    “How’s Candace?” I asked Rachael.
    “Candace is fine,” she replied, smiling. “You’ll see her soon.”
    Ed Regis cleared his throat and said, “Alright, let’s all pack it up. We’re relocating as soon as Rachael is done with Adrian.”
    Alia was flabbergasted. “But I just finished filling the tub!”
    “We’ll find another one,” Ed Regis said crisply. “It wasn’t smart for you all to shout your names outside like that.”
    Alia looked at me accusingly. “I didn’t shout anything.”
    “Sorry,” I said, cringing.
    As Rachael continued working her power into me, Alia stomped back to our room to repack our bags.
    Ed Regis told Scott where we would be holed up until he came back for us. It was a recreational campsite a little outside of the city, which meant cold showers and no bathtubs. My sister was going to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
    “Okay,” said Rachael, releasing me. “That’s good for about sixteen hours.”
    “And we’ll be back for you well before it wears off,” Scott assured us.
    Now that Alia and I were properly hidden, we could relocate without anyone tracking us. Any Angel finders converging on our last known location were just going to find a bunch of empty rooms with “Do Not Disturb” signs hanging from the doorknobs. We didn’t bother checking out.
    The Wood-claw van, carrying a blindfolded Terry and James, left via the back exit. Ed Regis drove our stolen sedan out the front, Alia and me in the back seat.
    “Where are